Saitek Expert Travel Chess manual Playing Levels, Game Memory, Setting a Playing Level

the time you are taking for your move to think ahead and plan its own strategies. It tries to guess the move you are likely to make, and then calculates its responses for that particular move while you are still thinking. If the computer has guessed right, there’s no reason for it to keep on calculating—it immediately plays the move it has already found.

To disable this feature, turn on the Easy Mode option, as described in Section 5.2.

2.9 Game Memory

Press GO/STOP at any time to interrupt a game. Play is then sus- pended, and the computer stores your current game in memory (up to 50 individual moves). When you switch back on again, you can continue right where you left off!

3. THE PLAYING LEVELS

Your chess computer offers 64 different levels of play. When you set the level, keep in mind that when the computer has more time to think about its moves, it becomes stronger and plays better—just like a human chess player! For an overview of all the levels, refer to the Level Chart. The levels are also described individually in this section.

Setting a Playing Level

See ÒUSE THIS CHART TO SELECT A PLAYING LEVEL!Ó for an illustrated look at how to set a level and a chart showing all the levels at a glance.

There are two methods of setting levels—by using the game keys or pressing the board squares. Whichever method you use, always press LEVEL first to enter Level Mode, and the computer will display the current playing level. When you enter Level Mode the first time, the computer is set on Normal Playing Level A4 (with an average response time of five seconds a move), and the display shows L 0:05.

¥To select a level by using game keys: After entering Level Mode by pressing LEVEL, change levels one at a time by using the BLACK/+ and WHITE/Ð keys. As a shortcut, press LEVEL repeat- edly to skip over eight levels at a time. When the display shows your desired level, press ENTER to enter your new level into the

computer and exit Level Mode.

¥To select a level by pressing board squares: As shown in the Level Chart, each of the 64 squares corresponds to one level. After entering Level Mode by pressing LEVEL, take a chess piece and press the desired square to activate a level, using the chart as a guide. When you press down on your chosen square and that level shows in the display, press ENTER to enter your new level into the computer and exit Level Mode. Note that when making your selec- tion via the board squares, pressing CLEAR has the same effect as pressing ENTER—it enters your level into the computer.

¥To verify the level without changing it: If you press LEVEL to verify the level but you don’t want to actually change levels, press CLEAR. This returns you to normal play without changing the level or clock settings, even while the computer is thinking.

Other important points to remember regarding levels:

•Changing the level always resets the chess clocks.

•We don’t recommend changing levels while the computer is think- ing, since the clock is reset and the current search is aborted. If you must do this, first press ENTER to abort the computer’s search, and make its move on the board. Then, take back the computer’s move and change the level. Finally, press ENTER to make the computer start thinking on the new level.

3.1Normal Playing Levels (Squares A1-B7)

LEVEL	TIME PER MOVE	DISPLAY
A1	1 second	L	0:01
A2	2 seconds	L	0:02
A3	3 seconds	L	0:03
A4	5 seconds	L	0:05
A5	10 seconds	L	0:10
A6	15 seconds	L	0:15
A7	20 seconds	L	0:20
A8	30 seconds	L	0:30
B1	45 seconds	L	0:45
B2	1 minute	L	1:00
B3	1.5 minutes	L	1:30
B4	2 minutes	L	2:00
B5	3 minutes	L	3:00
B6	5 minutes	L	5:00
B7	10 minutes	L10:00

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